Summary

Goals

D. Matthew Coleman, an MBA student at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, spent the summer of 2010 working for CSX Transportation. CSX operates a 21,000-mile railroad network that serves every major population center east of the Mississippi River. CSX supports the network with 4,000+ office and rail yard facilities. Coleman's task was to analyze electricity use across all facilities, as well as the energy efficiency of five specific facilities located in the southeastern U.S.

Solutions

Coleman found that electricity costs constitute the majority of CSX's annual utility expenditure. With the goal of reducing this expenditure, Coleman also identified and valued five capital investment projects that could simultaneously save money and reduce electricity use and emissions. The projects ranged from updating lighting and HVAC systems to removing late fees from energy bills. Coleman met routinely with facilities managers to understand the lighting and cooling needs of each site and customize his proposals to increase energy efficiency.

Potential Impact

In total, Coleman found that the projects could annually save $200,000, 1.3 million kWh of electricity (enough to power 115 homes), and 810 metric tons of CO2 (equivalent of removing 135 SUVs from the road).